


Green

by Eustacia Vye (eustaciavye)



Category: Tin Man (2007)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-06-10
Updated: 2010-06-10
Packaged: 2017-10-10 01:15:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/93614
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eustaciavye/pseuds/Eustacia%20Vye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She knows that her room is not a sarcophagus. She <i>knows</i> this, but she doesn't <i>feel</i> it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Green

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the "claustrophobia" box on my [hc_bingo](http://community.livejournal.com/hc_bingo) card.

In her nightmares, DG is still in the box.

Oh, it's not actually a box, but a sarcophagus. It's a finely carved sarcophagus made of fine green marble, something fit for a Queen, something just her size and not that far away from her face. She knows that she still has her magic, that it lights up her palms from the inside out and that she can do amazing things. She remembers that she used it to twist the screws that held the lid in place, and she remembers that she had escaped all by herself. She hadn't needed anyone to rescue her.

But in her nightmares, she's still inside the box. And it doesn't help that her room is painted green.

She had protested when the Queen gave her the room in the palace. She felt like an idiot child, the way that the Queen had looked at her mournfully, as if pleading with her to allow things to start over. Overwhelmed in the aftermath of the eclipse, DG had let it go.

Now she wishes she hadn't. Now she wishes she had kicked up a larger fuss, that she had screamed until she was assigned another room, any other room, as long as it wasn't green.

DG tears out of her room, flying through the halls as fast as she can run. It makes no sense, really, this dread of a bedroom that was sumptuous and laden with all sorts of beautiful things. She can't stand it, can't help but feel the green walls closing in. Her room is the same shade of green, because green is the color of the lands, and emeralds are the symbol of the Queen's rule. Emerald magic is old magic, and DG is supposed to be able to manipulate emerald magic.

She runs until she collapses somewhere in the gardens in the middle of the night. It's always better when she feels the cool breeze, when she sees the starry sky at night. She can remember walking along the Old Road, remember what it was like to be with friends, strong and brave and noble.

DG breathes in, great gulps of air, and she tries to calm down. She knows that her room is not a sarcophagus. She _knows_ this, but she doesn't _feel_ it. When she wakes from these nightmares, she's still caught in the box, the walls close in, and it all threatens to choke her to death. She's suffocating in this monstrosity of a palace, full of its secrets and half-heard whispers. They talk about her, about the Slipper and her crazy possessed sister, neither fit for the throne. She hears it, she knows it to be true. This isn't the life she wanted when she was in Kansas, and this isn't what the Queen had wanted for her.

"DG?"

She turns at the sound of that voice. Cain had been transferred to the castle guard at her request, the only one the Queen had complied with. He works on the other side of the palace, though. He never sees her in the light of day, never comes close enough to touch her skin or remind her of how brave she had been not that long ago.

He holds her tightly, as he always does. He knows about the trapped feeling, about how sometimes the memories feel more real than reality. He knows exactly how she feels, exactly how lost she really is.

When he kisses her, the world flips inside out and inverts. The world seems to be on a better axis again, spinning just the way it should be. Cain's arms wind around her waist, and DG smiles at him. "You always know what to do to make it better."

"Why don't we count a few stars?" he asks, a smile curling across his lips. "That always used to help me sleep as a boy."

DG laughs. "Now why can't I picture you as a little boy?"

They settle on a bench in the gardens and stare up at the sky. There are so many stars here, more than there used to be in Kansas. DG wonders if they're all double suns, if they all contain worlds of magic and fear.

Cain laces his fingers through hers and drags her hand into his lap. "It gets better, DG."

She looks down at him from the stars, and she can almost see them reflected in his eyes. He _knows_ her, and he cares. Somehow, she's always known that, even if the rest of the court can't understand it. DG smiles at him gently. "Thank you, Wyatt."

He pulls her into his embrace and kisses the top of her head. "Anything for you, DG."

They are still sitting together when the sun comes up over the horizon.

End.


End file.
